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Local people’s interaction with bats render them vulnerable to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). This paper examines perceptions of risk involved in the hunting, handling, processing and consumption of bat meat in the Mount Cameroon region of Southwest Cameroon. It focuses on the myriad cultural beliefs, gendered patterns of activity and institutional arrangements in which the bat meat production chain is embedded.

We conducted 30 ethnographic interviews with a sample of purposively selected men and women involved in the bat meat trade. The interviews were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and inductive analysis was performed on the data.

The findings suggests that more urban men than villagers and hunters consume bat meat. Different practices and behaviours expose the mostly uneducated, young, single men and women to the risk of Ebola infection depending on …